The longer this goes on, the more leverage Stepan has. Remember, the team is already starting the season without Callahan and Hagelin.

I worry a bit that he's going to end up putting too much pressure on himself. He already is expected to keep up last year's play and extend it for a whole season. The longer he waits, the bigger the expectation will be when he comes and the less prepared he'll be. I get why he's playing it the way he is, but I hope he's not also setting himself up in a bad situation for the season.

I am pretty sure players don't get paid for training camp. They don't start getting paid until the regular season. So he doesn't lose any money until he misses the regular season. I may be wrong, this is from memory listening to NHL Network Radio on SiriusXM and Canadian radio of a year ago when the lockout was under way.

I am pretty sure players don't get paid for training camp. They don't start getting paid until the regular season. So he doesn't lose any money until he misses the regular season. I may be wrong, this is from memory listening to NHL Network Radio on SiriusXM and Canadian radio of a year ago when the lockout was under way.

And I've explained why I believe Stepan doesn't have the leverage to be holding out, just as I explained why I believed the players should give it up during the lockout.

The lockout annoyed me, annoyed everyone. Just as Stepan's holdout does to everyone.

I'm just pro-owner when it comes to things like this. They provide the league. Stepan can't make that money elsewhere. Rangers own his rights. Hes not getting an offer sheet.

If Stepan winds up with $3.3 per for two years instead of $2.8 per for two years he will make more money by holding out say for a period of two months. That's math. And truly he is at least the Rangers 2nd best forward if not their best when you consider he led the team in scoring last year and plays in all situations. I like that Sather added more depth to the team but running out of cash for such an important player is the issue here.

As far as being pro owner--they're the ones that locked the players out last year not the other way around--you could at the least apportion some of the blame for that to them.

They were. Fehr spewed his ******** for months before he ever made a legit offer or any effort to compromise.

The owners weren't blameless, but to me it was always much more on the players.

Yeah Yeah I know it was a lockout not a strike but the players knew they had to give back, and they didn't even bother to start seriously negotiating until December.

Knew? What union that you've ever heard of have ever volunteered to give anything back? Management--union employee contracts don't work that way. What is gained over years/decades of negotiations is never going to be just handed back for free and why would it and what would be the use of a union to its members if it made a habit of that?--why would anyone join?

Knew? What union that you've ever heard of have ever volunteered to give anything back? Management--union employee contracts don't work that way. What is gained over years/decades of negotiations is never going to be just handed back for free and why would it and what would be the use of a union to its members if it made a habit of that?--why would anyone join?

Just like they wouldn't accept a salary cap. Until they did.

By "give back" I mean that the NHL rejected the idea of extending the previous CBA. That alone shows that the NHL wanted a new CBA and the players were going to have to give some things back.

From what was made public, they made no efforts to make any meaningful negotiations or compromises until almost half the season was gone.